Chapter 27: Its a roadtrip! (2/2)

“I’m Ilea by the way, who are you guys?” The girl was starting to answer when a clap from Arven shut her up.

Three of the seven people went to the biggest group, the warriors. Nearly twenty of the guards were in that group. The fifteen long ranged guards, mages and rangers by the looks of their clothes, were joined by a woman that immediately got Ilea’s attention. Her black hair and blue eyes that matched Ilea were one thing. What really got Ilea’s attention was the black robe she wore.

‘I’ll have to ask where she got that robe from…,’ The robe was even more comfortable than Ilea could imagine but she didn’t know that.

They locked eyes for a second and the woman nodded towards her. The five supporters were joined by a man dressed in furs while Arven quickly joined the defenders, their numbers being around fourteen.

After quickly talking to the defenders, he made his way towards Ilea and the other two healers. “You three are the healers hmm? The guild had promised experienced people, guess I’ll have to take what I can get…,”

He looked up and down Ilea’s armor while completely ignoring the other two. “Is that one new or is this your first time out of the walls?” His question was directed at Ilea but there was no hint of sarcasm nor a mocking tone in his voice.

‘Professional hmm… although a bit of an asshole…,’ She thought.

“I just got it today, been outside a couple times before.” She locked eyes with him which seemed to convince the man.

“Alright, you’ll be the healer in charge based on your level. You three stay behind us defenders, divided along the caravan to cover its length. I’ll coordinate you should the need arise. Your job is to stay back and deal with injured people. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Understood sir!” Ilea saluted in an exaggerated manner to which Arven just nodded.

“I’ll talk to the defender group then, you’re at the front, you’re in the middle and you’re in the back. Just choose a cart and enter. They’ll be happy to have a healer that close. Come to me if you have questions or concerns. And thank you for joining the guard.”

Ilea would be in the front, the girl in the middle and the man in the back. Arven had nodded at them before leaving, seemingly showing more respect than to others she’d seen him interact with. ‘Guess being a healer has its good and bad sides… not that the bad ones apply to me… and that guy apparently lacks a humor organ, or he’s a good actor. Nice armor though…,’

“I’m Chloe!” The girl next to Ilea interrupted her thoughts.

“Nice to meet you Chloe.” turning to the male healer “Anything I should know? Or is it as simple as he said?”

The man just shrugged “Name’s Sebastian. It’s pretty much that, we’re here for our healing mostly and of course any skill or class levels we pick up by being with the group and using our magic. I saw Arven work before, he’s as capable as he looks.”

Ilea nodded to him when the girl next to her made an exciting noise “I gained a point in Wisdom!” she exclaimed.

Ilea smiled at her “Congratulations Chloe.” it’s been a while since Ilea had gained even a single stat point while simply reading, running or fighting.

‘I guess it’s because my stats are relatively high, which makes it harder for them to naturally grow. Maybe I should’ve gained more stats before starting to level up…,’

“I’ll check for a cart then before the others start to disperse. And I suggest you two do the same.” Sebastian suggested to which all of them started walking towards the carts.

“Ataniel will wait for you, trust me!” turning her head, Ilea saw the woman that seemed familiar to her before.

Hearing her talk let the gears in Ilea’s mind click. ‘She’s that crusader chick from the arena! Good on her for surviving… I’ll get as far away as I can from her though…,’

The guards and travelers soon filled in on the carts, some of them mounting horses to ride alongside the caravan. Ilea had chosen a merchant's cart that was filled with boxes of goods. It had a roof which Ilea jumped on to continue her nap from before.

The hours passed as she napped and then listened to adventurers talk about monsters, women and men. She read a part of one of her new books when an armored guy joined her on the roof, having jumped from the cart behind hers. He motioned to the other and currently free half of the roof to which she just nodded.

He nodded back and sat down, taking a notebook from his pack and a pen to write or draw. She smiled at his action and they continued to sketch and read quietly.

Evening came and went as the caravan built a circle on a clearing in the forest. Cooking fires were made and maintained by mages inside the wagon. Two people of the support group were bards that entertained everyone with their tunes.

Rangers were scouting the woods around them as fighters and defenders rotated the guard. Ilea enjoyed the view of the stars and didn’t sleep that night, savoring the quiet after a morning filled with talking. The armored guy on her roof left a couple hours ago to build and sleep in his tent. He bid her a good night and offered his name.

‘Roland hmm?’ she looked at the stars and smiled.

The night passed uneventfully. Some wolves and a shining elk monster were scared away by some of the mages but the commotion was so small, barely anybody even woke up.

The days passed as the caravan traveled westwards. The only healing Ilea got to do were burns from cooking or small injuries of overexcited warriors that hurt each other in mock battles. Luckily the girl from the arena didn’t seem to be in the mood of killing. ‘Not that she’d leave more than a severed head behind…,’

As time went on Ilea noticed that the road became progressively less maintained, the land more rough and the people less jolly. She had started to sometimes talk to Roland who still joined her on her roof every day.

He told her that the further from the city, the more dangerous it became. Just a couple days out and it would become rather unpredictable what kind of monsters or other sources of danger could arise.

The travelers would still have their cooking fires and songs but more and more subdued. Only some of it enforced by Arven.

All of that made perfect sense to Ilea, especially six days into their travels when Ilea was abruptly woken up by the sound of a scream.

Her buffs flared into life as she got up from her sleeping position. Hitting the naked Roland next to her lightly on his head.

She got her armor on in under a minute. She had become much better at fiddling with the different straps and buckles, especially after starting to spend the nights with her newly found companion.

Exiting the tent, she finished up with her scaled skirt just as Roland exited, putting on his steel helmet. “You’re not wearing a shirt.” She said to the man. He just smiled and lifted his rather large steel axes as a dim red glow filled his eyes.

Ilea unstrapped her mace and motioned towards the noise of fighting. “Not me this time, hush… go get them!” the man shook his head while walking past her, his fist hitting her in the shoulder with a strength that would down a normal city resident. She showed no reaction other than to just smile at his bare back as he was running towards the noise with powerful steps.

Shouts started to fill the caravan as the sleeping came to life. Roars of yet unknown beasts joined the symphony of the night as Ilea twirled her fifteen kilogram mace with the ease of a child moving a plastic knife, the moon illuminating her smile.